Topic: Mega Man Robot Masters Tournament!

[TerraEsperZ]

Well, my favourite games are Mega Man 2 to 5, but that doesn't mean those games have my all-time favourite Robot Masters. There's a lot of other things that influence my appreciation for those games: level designs, ambiance (really important in the Skull Castle stages), *soundtrack*, graphics, etc.



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"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censored, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably." [...] The first time any man's freedom is trodden on, we're all damaged. - Captain Jean-Luc Picard



B*tch, meet reality. Reality, meet b*tch. - Me

[JonLeung]

The polls are specifically about the Robot Masters, though...



I think the thing about later games, with the increased resolution, increased animation, inclusion of voice clips (and in some X games, brief pre-battle dialogue) have given the Robot Masters more definite personalities, but I think there was something fun about the earlier ones that didn't have as much about them that were defined.



You might have just thought that as robots, they wouldn't have much personality anyway.  Or you could imagine what they would be like.  (They are popular with sprite comics because many are recognizeable and yet the sprite comic "artist" can insert whatever personality they think fits their purposes.)  Or perhaps their abilities really defined them enough, or provided direction to your imagination to see them as the opponent you wanted.



I actually liked it when they were all stumpy little NES men.  It's like it shows how much of a character (I use that term slightly differently than personality here) you can have from just a few pixels.  It makes them seem more like each other (and as we all know, bad guys are always more similar in appearance to each other than the good guys are) and yet their different abilities make them seem as if they were a team with different functions (like the first Robot Masters supposedly were).  And some guys were different ENOUGH from the basic Robot Master template, like Air Man or Napalm Man.



I'm kind of having ambivalent feelings all over the place about them - I don't want to say I hate the later ones because I don't.  But I remember being leery about the first times their sizes varied so much, or their rooms were no longer single rooms, etc.  I'm a slave to routine, maybe.

[Revned]

So, Jon, why after all this did you vote Pirate Man as well?

[TerraEsperZ]

I felt the same way about Mega Man 7 where for the first time they were truly varied but at the same times, I didn't like most of their designs. Some Mega Man 8 designs I also didn't like but Mega Man & Bass did it right; even those I liked less had good design to me.



I fully recognize that I'm biased based on the art but that's me. Now, If I had judged most of the NES Robot Masters based on their sprites in The Power Battles and The Power Fighters which used the same style as Mega Man 7, it would  probably have influenced my final vote more but I just didn't think about it.



I also think that Capcom's sprites artists got better as time went along on the NES/GB. They had better graphics, better pose, more animation, etc. It was limited by the hardware and graphic style but it was still there. That's mostly why the first three batch of Masters didn't rate higher for me.



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"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censored, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably." [...] The first time any man's freedom is trodden on, we're all damaged. - Captain Jean-Luc Picard



B*tch, meet reality. Reality, meet b*tch. - Me

[JonLeung]

Revned Said:

So, Jon, why after all this did you vote Pirate Man as well?

I haven't voted yet.



Not that it'll make much difference.

[TerraEsperZ]

Still, I'm interested in your choice and reasons for it.



---

"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censored, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably." [...] The first time any man's freedom is trodden on, we're all damaged. - Captain Jean-Luc Picard



B*tch, meet reality. Reality, meet b*tch. - Me

[JonLeung]

Magnet Man.  BECAUSE.



I was thinking about Metal Man...while I think it sucks that Quick Man lost to him, I think Metal Man (even if being a robot, his name is redundant) is pretty cool as a guy who jumps around throwing circular saw blades.  But he doesn't have a chance so I chose Magnet Man, typically my first choice in a Mega Man III playthrough, and MM III is my favourite MM game.



I don't even remember how Pirate Man attacks, sheesh.



Someone vote Magnet Man within the next half-hour and tie it up!

[TerraEsperZ]

Sheesh, you seem a *tad* bitter about it I think.



---

"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censored, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably." [...] The first time any man's freedom is trodden on, we're all damaged. - Captain Jean-Luc Picard



B*tch, meet reality. Reality, meet b*tch. - Me

[JonLeung]

Not really.  At least not as much as you think.  Stupid lack of tone in written text!



Time's up!



THE CHAMPION IS...



PIRATE MAN!

[JonLeung]

I can't think of another series with as many characters other than the Mega Man X series.  Maybe we should do that one day.

[JonLeung]

Okay, this current poll?  The one with the same finalists but including Galaxy Man?  It's not coming down until someone breaks the tie between Ice Man and Magnet Man!



It's funny...I almost voted for Turbo Man over Magnet Man.  If I had, there would've been a three-way tie between Magnet, Turbo, and Galaxy, and Ice Man would've been the clear winner.



No votes at all for last time's champion, Pirate Man...I guess that means I probably should've redone the polls for each game rather than assuming everyone's favorites are still the same...

[RT 55J]

Given the amount of Transformer fans here, I was surprised that I was the only person to vote for Turbo Man.

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"its a good day to do what has to be done by me and help my brother to defeat the enemys" - John Freeman

[JonLeung]

That's part of why I almost voted for him...  



Oh, great, now there's a three-way tie between Ice, Magnet, and Galaxy...



You could almost make a sentence...with Metal Knight Swords and Icy Pirate Skulls and...umm...hmm.  Magnetic...Turbo...Galaxy...yeah.

[JonLeung]

This time, congratulations go to Magnet Man!